Sunday, February 25, 2007 Double kill in 60th PAL Interclub By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
CAGAYAN DE ORO -- Canlubang completed another rare double in the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub Saturday, capturing the men's play crown in a wire-to-wire fashion at the Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club.
Playing under a slight drizzle, the Canlubang shotmakers turned in 146 points on the final day of action for 573 total and a huge 24-point victory over the youth-laden Manila Southwoods.
Jonel Ababa, Mark Fernando and Dave Hernandez each fired 37 points, or one-under in stroke play, while Boyet Zaragosa added 35 for Canlubang, which was never really threatened right from the start.
So awesome was Canlubang's final-day firepower that Mario Labajo's 34 did not count.
Canlubang also won the Seniors crown a week ago and with the men's team emerging triumphant, the Sugar Barons posted another twin kill just like they did last year in Davao.
It was also the 14th crown for Canlubang in men's play, a PAL Interclub record.
Canlubang also became the second team in Interclub history to achieve back-to back double. The first one was Luisita, which did the trick twice, the first one in 1992-1993 and in 1997-1998.
Southwoods could only managed 134 points courtesy of Mike Bibat's 36, Gene Bondoc's 35, the 34 of Erwin Vinluan and the 29 of either Miko Yee or Jun-Jun Plana for 549.
Del Monte fired 135 points in the final day to place third at 530.
The 22-year-old Ababa, a former caddie at the Apo Golf and Country Club in Davao City, capped his round with back-to-back birdies on holes 16 and 17.
The Davao boy rammed in his first birdie from 15 feet then sank a 10-footer that proved to be a dagger against his flightmate Bondoc. The only
After finishing his round, Ababa got a huge pat on the back from Tommy Manotoc and a handshake form team captain Luigi Yulo. Some of the Canlubang team members then hoisted each other around the 18th green, ecstatic of another grand finish.
Manotoc, Yulo and members of the winning team then took a late but hearty lunch altogether at the clubhouse.
Action Asia, Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Callaway Golf, 105.1 Crossover, GE Aviation, GECAS, Mizuno, People Asia and Royal Carribbean are the tournament's major sponsors.
The corporate backers are Business Mirror, Fortune Tobacco, GMA 7, Honda Cars Davao, Premier Wine & Spirits, Radio Mindanao Network and www.inquirer.net are the corporate backers, while Century Park Hotel, C-Lium Libre, Foreign Post, Lufthansa Technik and What's On Expat Communications are the minor sponsors.
